The fire and rapidity in the first line, and the rapture and air of inspiration in the succeeding one, must warm any imagination, that has but the least spark of fire. I could not help dwelling on it with admiration; it opened to my mind a train of images which gave me the most exquisite pleasure, and made such an impression on my spirits, that, even in sleep, they continued to flow in the same traces they had before been thrown into, and thus my waking thoughts were recalled to me with double delight.

I thought that, of a sudden, I was hurried away to the realms of Parnassus, and that I towered with rapture over the several cliffs which are frequent in those regions. The air, methought, seemed to be clearer than what I have ever met with; the skies were brightened into the pure azure; the sun darted his genial rays all around; and different streaks of light, blending themselves in sundry parts of the hemisphere, served to diversify the scene; the country smiled in vernal delight, covered with the most cheerful green I ever beheld. In one part was displayed to view, an ample lawn, stretched to such a length that the eye lost itself; on the other side, presented themselves meads and gardens, and laurel groves. Hills there were, whose blue tops grew fine by degrees, and les

sened to the sight amid the clouds. From one of these, issued the Pierian fountain, which, divided into several rills, came tinkling down the mountain, and, at the bottom, all assembling into one general reservoir, they there expanded themselves into a pleasing surface, and formed a river, which watered all the country round. Here I fell into that state of mind which is so excellently described in the Pleasures of Imagination:

Then the inexpressive strain
Diffuses its enchantment; fancy dreams
Of sacred fountains, and Elysian groves,
And vales of bliss; the Intellectual Pow'r
Bends from his awful throne a list'ning ear,
And smiles; the passions, gently sooth'd away,
Sink to divine repose, and love and joy
Alone are waking; love and joy serene
As airs that fan the summer.

I felt the most ardent ambition to gain the summit of the hill; but it was, in several places, so steep, that I believe I should never have reached it, if Apollo had not been favourable to the humble prayer which I preferred. I did not build my supplication upon merit in the literary world, but humbly presumed upon the delight which I always took in the works of genius; and, in Apollo's eye, the next thing to

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a good author, is to have a taste and relish for the beauties of fine writing. I was struck with reverential awe at the sight of the God of wit; and such melody filled my ears, such divine harmony enchanted the place, that I instantly fell on my knees, and worshipped the heavenly strain. They beheld each other with an air of mutual affection and complacence; their eyes were bright with meaning; and I thought that, in delicacy of shape and feature, they had a near resemblance to two ladies known to the world by the name of the Hibernian Beauties.

After paying sufficient adoration, I withdrew from the presence of the deities, and went round the place, in order to view the country more particularly. The greatest part of these regions is portioned out into different tenures; some of them conveyed to the person for ever, others for life, and many for a shorter duration. There are mansion-houses built on many of these estates, and the great geniuses who have made a figure in the world have here fixed their residence.

The ancients seemed to have by much the largest possessions, though a great part of their property was transferred to the moderns. Dryden, besides his own hereditary estate, has purchased a large scope of ground from the cele

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brated Virgil, and Mr. Pope has bought near half of Homer's rent-roll. Mr. Dryden spent most of his time in writing Prefaces and Dedications to the great men of Parnassus; and Mr. Pope retired to his own house, which was situated on the banks of the river already mentioned, and the country adjacent was laid out in the most exquisite taste. Mr. Pope was formerly very attentive to the improvement of his land, and where the soil did not yield spontaneously, he assisted with hot-beds. This turn was now quite over with him, and his chief care was to embellish a temple of virtue and happiness, which he had raised in the middle of his garden:

There his retreat the best companions grace;
Chiefs out of war, and statesmen out of place.

In company with these celebrated personages he maintained his own ease and dignity; and though his soul glowed within him, when sitting with Bolingbroke and Marchmont, he seemed to receive a more near delight from his Gay and Parnell.

The great Shakspeare sat upon a cliff, looking abroad through all creation,, His possessions were very near as extensive as Homer's, but, in some places, had not received sufficient

culture. But even there spontaneous flowers shot up, and in the unweeded garden which grows to seed you might cull lavender, myrtle, and wild thyme. Craggy rocks, hills, and dales, the woodland and open country, struck the eye with wild variety, and over our heads rolled thunder, deep and awful, and the lightning's flash darted athwart the solemn scene, while, on the blasted heath, witches, elves, and fairies, with their own queen Mab, played in frolic gambols. Mean time, the immortal bard sat with his eyes in a fine phrensy rolling, and writers, both in the tragic and comic, were still gathered round him. Aristotle seemed to lament that Shakspeare had not studied his art of poetry, and Longinus admired him to a degree of enthusiasm. Otway, Rowe, and Congreve, had him constantly in their eye, and even Milton was looking for flowers to transplant into his own Paradise.

I was called off from surveying the possessions of the immortal Shakspeare, by repeated peals of laughter, which resounded from an adjacent grove. This I soon perceived was occasioned by the irresistible humour of Lucian, Cervantes, and Swift; while, at some distance from them, Rabelais threw himself into a thou